Retweets Most Likely to Happen After Hours [Study]

Expanding your engagement on Twitter can be a challenge. If you aren't communicating at the time your audience is online, you could miss that first touch. And how your tweets are structured can affect the rate of retweets you receive to amplify your brand’s voice.

TrackMaven released a study today highlighting research that shows when people are tweeting, and what components go into a tweet that drives engagement in its latest study, The Retweet Report.

Based on nearly 1,500 twitter accounts with more than 1,000 followers, the study looked at things like timing and structure. Beginning with the timing component, research showed overall that the most active days on Twitter were Monday through Friday, with Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday showing the most activity.

Most active times of day for tweets, set to Eastern Time, were noon to 1 p.m., likely when users were engaging on their lunch breaks.

But when it came to retweets, the days and times differed from the data points just mentioned. Suggesting that users are most active when off work, the day that showed the highest retweets on average was Sunday.

And the times people retweet most, according to this research, was after hours with the highest average occurring between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET.

Hashtags have been a way to expand exposure of a tweet. Knowing just how many to add before it becomes too much is a question brands sometimes struggle with. TrackMaven research showed that more hashtags do increase the likelihood of a retweet.

However, using common sense to ensure the hashtags included are relevant and don’t degrade the quality of a tweet is the next step in making that decision about how many to use.

As Twitter becomes a more visual platform, brands are taking advantage of the ability to add imagery to tweets. TrackMaven found that tweets with images garner much more engagement in the form of retweets than those without.

While data such as this can be a helpful guide for brands to build a foundation for a publishing schedule, understanding the brand’s specific follower set, where users are located and when they are most active is key to disseminating the message. Then, using the data gleaned from experience on what works with the audience in terms of engagement comes next.

About the author

Jessica Lee is the founder of bizbuzzcontent, a boutique content services company that offers quality content creation services and content strategy consulting.

Since 2005, Jessica has been in the business of content and communications, with the past seven years focused on the Web marketing space.

Prior to launching bizbuzzcontent, Jessica was responsible for content strategy, development, and marketing for Bruce Clay Inc. - a global SEO firm, where she served small businesses and Fortune 500 clients.

Jessica has a bachelor's in communications and public relations from San Diego State University.

She contributed to the book Search Engine Optimization All-in-One for Dummies second edition, and her writing is featured in an active college textbook, Reading and Writing About Contemporary Issues.